Cyprus recorded an employment rate of 79.8 per cent in 2024, surpassing the European Union’s 78 per cent target set under the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan for 2030.

Eurostat reported that the EU’s overall employment rate reached a historical high of 75.8 per cent, 2.2 points below the 2030 target.

Almost half of all EU regions, 113 out of 243 with available data, reached or exceeded the 78 per cent target.

These high-performing regions were concentrated in countries such as Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, as well as in Estonia, Cyprus and Malta.

Regions with employment rates above 85 per cent were limited to capital or economically strong areas, including Åland in Finland at 86.4 per cent, the Polish capital region Warszawski stołeczny at 86.2 per cent, Bratislavský kraj in Slovakia at 85.4 per cent, Budapest in Hungary at 85.3 per cent, Utrecht in the Netherlands at 85.3 per cent, and Prague in the Czech Republic at 85.1 per cent.

Eurostat noted that regions with lower employment rates were typically rural, sparsely populated, or on the EU periphery, particularly in southern Spain and Italy, much of Greece, some Romanian regions, and the outermost regions of France.

Former industrial regions that struggled to adapt to economic shifts, such as parts of north-east France and Belgium’s Région wallonne, also recorded relatively low employment.

Approximately one in four EU regions, 65 out of 243, had employment rates below 73.5 per cent, including Calabria and Campania in Italy, Sicilia, Brussels in Belgium, Lazio in Italy, Wien in Austria, and Attiki in Greece.

Cyprus’ strong performance places it among the EU regions exceeding the 2030 employment target, reflecting robust labour market participation and economic resilience.